The Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) were informed on Friday 18 December of the political agreement reached the previous evening between the European Parliament and the German Presidency of the EU Council regarding the entire post–2020 LIFE programme.
LIFE is the only financial instrument that is specifically dedicated to environmental and climate objectives.
Since the text of the agreement could not be forwarded to delegations, Coreper—which was meeting for the final time this year—was not in a position on Friday to validate the agreement, which is why the Portuguese Presidency of the EU council will take over.
According to the political agreement, the overall objective of LIFE for 2021–2027 is to contribute to a transit to a clean, circular, energy-efficient, low-carbon and climate-proof economy, to protect and improve the quality of the environment, and to stop and reverse the loss of biodiversity.
The negotiators agreed to align the duration of the programme with that of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The budget is €5.432 billion, which represents an increase of one third compared to the previous budget.
Reference was also made to the fact that 30% of the total expenditure of the MFF and the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery instrument was allocated to climate action. The text also refers to the ‘European Green Deal’ and the ‘do no harm’ principle.
The European Parliament has withdrawn its proposal for delegated acts.
With regard to the external scope of the programme, the Regulation specifies that LIFE will also support activities outside of the EU.
“The LIFE programme is one of the EU’s key funding instruments for nature, biodiversity, climate action and now clean energy projects. It will be instrumental in helping to implement the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and reach the EU climate neutrality objectives for 2050”, commented the German Minister for the Environment, Svenja Schulze, who is the outgoing President of the Environment Council. She said she was “very pleased” with this “ambitious agreement”.
“The programme is one of the EU’s most effective budgetary instruments. Extending its duration helps us to effectively protect our environment and speed up the transition to a zero-emission economy”, were the welcome words from MEP Nils Torvalds (Renew Europe, Finland), negotiator for the European Parliament. He added, “Once again, we have adapted LIFE to the growing sustainability challenges that we face”.
The European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, welcomed this agreement “between Parliament and Member States on our precious LIFE programme”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)